Hi guys,
I just wanted to echo some recommendations on the TDSA advanced pistol 1 (AP1) course offered by Scott Little in Hamilton, ON.
A very short background on me - I've been shooting pistol for 1.5 years, and IPSC for about 8 months now. I have taken some local courses on firearms training and try to make it to most provincial IPSC matches to learn from the other competitors. I wouldn't classify myself as 'new' though, I'm out usually 3-4 days per month practicing pistol.
We saw all types of people at the course. New shooters, competition shooters and Mil/LE.
The course started late, as the clay shooters didn't want pistol fire setting off their timers for their competition beside the tactical range. Instead, they busted out the tractors and moved the steel targets to a long range, and they setup there. In all, it dropped about 1.25h off the start time of the course. We were to begin at 9am, it was more like 10:15 when we started doing things.
This did eat into our training time, as we were supposed to do holster qualifications and drawing for the first hour, all dry run. They aren't allowed to shoot until 10am at that range. This was done at the end of the day, and it was explained they basically ran the course backwards. This didn't affect the quality of instruction at all though.
As for the content of the course, Scott and Aaron were excellent at delivering a solid foundation of pistol training. Now, as for the content itself - i'm obviously not going to write it out here (go take the course!) however some of the content was 180 degrees from what I've been taught and practiced. But this is also the reason I went to the course, to get another set of tools to bring into my pistol practice. New drills and new tactics for shooting.
Things such as stance, trigger control, sight picture and all the fundamentals were brought into play - and as stated, some very different from what I have grown accustomed to. Hopefully some of my bad habits can get eaten away with new fundamentals.
Scott and Aaron were smooth and fluid with their system, and the results paid of near the end of the day. Newer shooters were 'more better' than their original posted times. I personally had a 30% improvement, but I messed up my reload at the first time-trial of the day. Also, people are more nervous at the start, amongst other issues which could skew percentage results. I believe over time with practice of the fundamentals taught I will improve, I just don't particularly believe same day percentages of overall improvement for myself. For some of the newer shooters - absolutely!
I particularly enjoyed the banter, Scott has the sarcastic side which I immediately gravitate towards. This kept the conversation light, and questions were answered properly with the system they were instructing.
And, to finish it off, Scott was just making up new words for the English language. He slipped and said we will be 'more better' with our shooting. (In English, this is two comparatives - not meant to be used together). I pointed this out, and it became the word association of the day.
We wrapped up around 4pm. A few things were skipped during the course - we didn't practice tactical reloads and a few other things like prone shooting. We are told each course varies, and that should be expected - some people take the course more than once. We were asked to bring 750 rounds minimum, and as I wrote in another thread I shot 450 ish. Some guys were shooting steel afterward in a mad dash, for what I would consider 'just for the sake of shooting steel'. Getting macked in the side of the head with brass on a firing line isn't my idea of a good time so I packed up my stuff.
Overall I would definitely recommend this course to pistol shooters looking to improve their skill level. Nothing beats having an instructor standing beside you staring at your pistol telling you what you're doing wrong (or right).
No YouTube video is going to do this for you (well, unless you post a video of yourself and let the internet tell you what you're doing wrong, but I digress)
I walked away with new techniques for pistol shooting, new drills and ability to hone what I need to practice to become a better pistol shooter. Which is exactly why I went there.
I will definitely be taking the AP2 course when it is offered next year - and I am definitely not driving to Ontario by myself for this one (Looking at you, STech)
Perhaps they could offer an AP1 Saturday, AP2 Sunday course setup for those who are travelling from out of Province. But I was told I was the first out of province person to take their course.... so I'll just bug Travis about this next year.
Travis did show up, he does exist. I was going to thank him for the barrage of emails I sent prior to the course, but he was gone as soon as I turned around. I assume he dawned his superhero cape and flew off to the next mission. But now this review is getting silly and I'm running out of coffee.
Once again, thanks to the TDSA group for hosting these courses, can't wait for the next one!
Adam.
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